The Stage Revisited

There is no longer any question…the stage was too big. So I made it smaller. I did not, however, cut any of the original pieces down. Instead I took the two left over pipes of 10 feet each and cut them into 4 three foot sections and 2 four foot sections. When I reassembled the stage with these pieces, I actually ended up with the 11’ across design that Frank and I originally planned. Some other benefits include: the drapes will now cover the entire stage, the puppeteers won’t have to get off their knees in the back to keep the puppets visible, and the whole thing doesn’t wobble as much. It makes me feel much more comfortable. Also, I’ve seen the size of the stage Mimibunko will be using, and since we will be moving the stages forward and back, this smaller one will be friendlier to that. Actually, I am worried about the logistics of that. Perhaps it might be wise to try it out on Friday before the Aki Matsuri.

Speaking of the stage…Dad came to my rescue this last week. I don’t know what happened to my other helpers but Dad was a real trouper! We finished the playboard and constructed the prop rack and hung the curtains. He even came up with a clever solution to making the wings. I’m so happy! In addition to the stage, he painted me a house for scenes 2 through 4 and he finished most of my props, made excellent base structures for the boat and palanquin.

Mandy showed up for rehearsal with S hooks from Daiso which go over the 1.5” diameter PVC perfectly. Plus we did the first run through with the Frank to help us with blocking the fights (his hobby is stage fighting). Everyone is getting their lines down, with a little prompting. All of us are getting stronger arms so there’s a whole lot less puppet drowning going on. Plus, we crack each other up now…a major perk of a rehearsal that is going well. Things are looking up for the show in September. We are right on track.

Making Puppet Kimono Patterns

Perhaps this title should be “Lesson Learned the Hard Way” because the lesson I learned is…you can’t use the same pattern to dress your hand that you use for the rest of your body. That’s the first part of it anyway… the second part would be: always stuff a glove puppet before sizing it. Because my first attempt at a kimono for Momotaro ended up: a) binding up the puppets movement and b) not looking right at the neck.

I was frustrated, as you can well imagine so I went back to the basics. Step one of the Basics is dig through your recycle bin for scrap paper. Then for your second step, you pin it on to the STUFFED puppet body. Third, you go around it and cut it down at places like the shoulders and under the arms. You should end up with something like this:

Then, you clean it up and put it all on a nice blank pattern page:

You cut it out of waste material and sew up the main seam…use a large stitch like this:

Now you put it on the puppet and pin it in to fit. Like this:

Sew that up and cut off excess. Now try it on the puppet and repeat the pinning, sewing and cutting until you get a workable pattern. Once you do…remove all your stitches and there’s a pattern!

Now you try it out with the real material.

I then recycled the pattern material for the green archery guard on the left arm. The hakama you see in the picture above, I didn’t have to do using the pattern method…possibly because straight-ness of a man’s hips and the straight-ness of ones forearms match.

Momotaro’s Army Part One

The Puppeteers (in order of enlistment):

Mylinda Sneed

Obasan and Monkey

Mylinda is a member in good standing of the Puppeteers of Puget Sound. She is a talented leather mask creator. She enjoys performing with the guild puppeteers in the Fremont Arts Parade. She has participated from the beginning at the Day of Puppetry events at the Pike Place Market each summer.

Beckett Arnold

Momotaro

Beckett is the current President of the Puppeteers of Puget Sound for the 2008 and 2009 years. He is an enthusiastic performer with the guild in the Fremont Arts Parade and the Day of Puppetry at the Pike Place Market. He enjoys making Uncle Duke’s Pop-up puppets which he learned at one of the guild meetings.

Amanda Leaverton

Gold Oni, and Dog

Mandy is a teacher at Kilo Middle School. She enjoys using puppets in the classroom as well as exercising her talent at voice acting while reading books to her students. She has participated in several puppet shows in the past. She also enjoys belly dancing as well as scrapbook making—Momotaro is unlikely to escape her scrapbook!

Jung Sook Kim

Narrator

Jung Sook is of Korean descent but born and raised in Japan, currently teaches Japanese at a local private school. She is a fan of the art of Puppetry and wants to learn more to use it in the classroom. She is also well known for her storytelling.

Ushio Tokura

Musician, Young Momotaro, Blue Oni

Ushio is pleased to be making his puppetry debut with Momotaro. Ushio is Jung Sook Kim’s son and is off to a good start in the art of puppetry. He is a student at Three Cedars School in Bellevue.